Shell Valley build

[RJCCOBRA]

Well, after moving the Shell Valley kit around from place to place over the last 20 years, I've finally started putting the old Shell Valley kit together with the help of Buddy Neely and his well furnished garage. I've posted some pictures of the build to date in my photo gallery for those of you who would like to see the progress. Hopefully, we should be able to have it running under it's own power in about 2 weeks. I might need to buy snow tires for it.

Cheers,

Reed

[joey_hv]

How many gallons can that gas tank hold?

build is looking saweet!

[RJCCOBRA]

I don't know the exact capacity. The tank came in 2 pieces. One piece formed the sides and top of the tank, and the other piece formed the front, bottom, and back of the tank. We had fun welding it all together and then chasing down leaks in the seems. I'll take some measurements tomorrow and plug it into my fuel tank capacity calculator to see how much petro it should hold. I'm hoping for at least 15 gallons. My LA Exotics holds 31 gallons, so I've become spoiled to some extent.

Reed

[RedSnake351]

Nice going, Reed! Is this going to be the first 9 sec. Cobra at Byron next spring?
I know with Buddy's help, that won't be a problem.
Ralph

[RJCCOBRA]

With Bob Brown's old 390 in it, I'm hoping to get mid 12's with it. However, Buddy says that with a big enough Pro Charger on it, mid 10's would be doable. We'll see how it does at the next Byron outing.

Reed

[RJCCOBRA]

The frame has had its second coat of paint and Buddy and I are starting to run the brake lines. Hopefully, tomorrow we'll get the brake lines finished, the rear end mounted, the front suspension with rack and pinion reinstalled, the gas tank reinstalled, and fuel lines run. I've put some more pictures of the build in my gallery for those who are interested.

We hope to see a lot of the WCCC members at the Sunday Snake & Eggs.

Reed

[treblig]

FYI for all you S/V folks. Got the pic's to back up my statement. Just letting the world know on all the B/S when you get the tich.

[RJCCOBRA]

It's alive!!! Well, today we we're finally able to fire up the Shell Valley. We had a few coolant leaks, which for the most part were solved by tightening up some hose clamps. The one leak we weren't able to resolve was a small leak in the diver's side radiator tank. We'll be taking the radiator back to the radiator shop tomorrow to have them repair their previous repair. The only other issue was with the ignition. I had an Accel billet distributor that I was using with a MSD 6AL box. I had disabled the internal module in the Accel distributor (it had been fried), and I was just using the distributor's magnetic pickup. Well, I believed the the Accel schematic and hooked it up to the 6AL box accordingly. We could get the engine started, but we couldn't get the engine to run right, nor could we get it timed. I then reversed the leads from the distributor's magnetic pickup and the engine ran smooth, and we were able to get it timed. Anyway, as soon as we get the radiator back in it, we'll be able to get it off of Buddy's lift and start on the body work.

[trctrdrvr]

This will be my last and final response to this thread

so you will just bring this up in other threads that do not pertain to it

Just a short note concerning my Shell Valley Coupe that Dwight Frye has mentioned in this thread. Immediately after the complications with my rear end I spoke with Dana from Shell Valley and informed him of the problem with my nine inch rear end axles and misalignment. He asked me to fax them the invoices of my expenses to repair the rear end. After faxing the requested information to Dana at Shell Valley they expeditiously mailed me a check for the entire expense. Needless to say, at this time of year, my capital for this sort of event is very limited and I am much relieved to have received the re-imbursment. I appreciate Shell Valleys attention to this matter.
Coach Mike

seems to me Dana and SV took action

SV has took very good care of me even when it was my mistake, so if you have a beef with them why don't you pick up the phone and call them they always pick up, [unlike some other co.] and I'm sure they will address you're problem


sorry RJ did'nt mean to interupt you're thread but some people just piss me off, nice build by the way watching with interest

[Clois Harlan]

That is really looking good. You're pretty good with those tubing benders (planning a trip near Tulsa in the near future?) I got a project that might need some expert tubing bending.

I hope you have it ready for spring and you can hook up with some of the guys from the Windy City Cobra Club...they seem to have a little fun every now and then,

Clois

[trctrdrvr]

Clois I agree with the tube bending, RJ ever tried doing a full roll cage for a CJ5

[RJCCOBRA]

Thanks for the compliments. I learned how to bend tubing from 2 Master Ford mechanics back in the 60's when I worked in their shop. Back then gas was 20 cents a gallon, and our flat rate for labor was $6.50 an hour. Anyway, I hope to have the radiator back in today and start on dressing up the wiring. Buddy and I may even take it for a spin around his place today if the weather holds.

Cheers,

Reed

[RJCCOBRA]

We got the radiator back from the radiator shop and it went back in with no problems or leaks. We also checked the air in the tires and torqued the lug nuts on all of the wheels just to be safe. Buddy then called Bob Brown while I took a cruise around Buddy's yard and left 2 long black streaks down his driveway. Buddy was kind enough to put his phone on speaker, so Bob could listen to his old 390 burning rubber.

[RJCCOBRA]

Buddy and I continue to work away on the body work. Both doors, the hood, and the deck lid needed major grinding, cutting, and reglassing to get them to fit properly. Hopefully, the newer Shell Valley kits don't have these issues. We also had issues with the inner panels not being properly aligned when they were bonded to the body. As an example, we had to section the inside of the drivers rear wheel well in order to get clearance for the inside of the driver's side rear tire. Again, this kit is almost 20 years old and one would hope that these types of quality/fitment issues have been addressed over the years. Anyway, for those of you who are interested, I've posted a few more pistures of the build to date in my gallery.

[RJCCOBRA]

Well, after having the kit for over 20 years, we were finally able to get a title and license plates. Now all I need to do is get the body work finished, the car painted, and the interior finished.

[jeff.nel]

Looking good Reed. Get er done. You guys are doing a great job.

[Jerry Clayton]

see what a front license plate will do for you??

[capteddie]

Reed, Congratulation on getting titled and licensed.

Any advise you can give on the process? I'm probably about 2 or 3 months away from the car being done and will need to go down that road also.

Again... Congrats!!!

Ed

[RJCCOBRA]

Hi Ed,
For registering the vehicle/kit car in Illinois, you'll need the Manufacturer's Statement of Origin; a bill of sale or receipt showing what was paid for the vehicle/kit; proof that sales tax has been paid on the vehicle/kit (Illinois requires payment of sales tax as soon as the vehicle/kit is purchased, if not they can assess penalties); having a copy of Illinois House Bill 4344 from the 92nd General Assembly Legislation is always handy, as this is what allows you to title the car as the year that the body/kit represents and some of the DMV locations may not be aware it. I also took a printout of Shell Valley's web page that said their kit was a replica of a 1967 427 SC Cobra because their Statement of Origin just had it listed as a Shell Valley Replica 427 SC Cobra and didn’t specify the year..

I think I've covered the essentials.

Hope this helps.

Reed

[capteddie]

Thanks again, Reed.

Well I haven't paid the taxes yet. Thought you did that when the car was finished... oops Where do I go to pay the taxes?

Also, didn't you need to get the car inspected?

Again, thanks!